Entrepreneur touched many lives
As one of the leading entrepreneurs in Westmoreland County, Wiley Hartman reached legions of consumers with his business enterprises along Route 30 East.
If you were uncertain what kind of sandwich you wanted, Mr. Hartman's Sorry Charlie's restaurant offered 206 varieties. If you were in the mood for a game of miniature golf, his T-Putt-In was the place to go. If you were a teenager in the 1960s, the Red Rooster Night Club provided musical entertainment by Sonny and Cher, Little Anthony and the Imperials, and The Temptations.
James Wiley Hartman III, of Greensburg, developer of the Oakley Park office and retail complex on old Route 30, died of congestive heart failure on Saturday, March 27, 2004, at his home. He was 71.
"When Wiley constructed his first miniature golf course, he was fulfilling a dream that started when he was a boy traveling with his parents," said his wife, Carole.
"He'd sit in the back of the family car and make sketches of miniature golf courses that he had seen. When he was ready to build his own miniature golf course in later years, he traveled all over the country visiting miniature courses and photographing them."
Born and raised in Latrobe, Mr. Hartman was one of two children of Dr. James II and Katherine King Hartman. His father was a general practitioner with offices in Latrobe.
Mr. Hartman was a member of the swim team at Latrobe High School and graduated in 1950.
While enrolled at Washington & Jefferson College in Washington County, he worked construction jobs during the summers. "Even in later years, nothing made Wiley happier than to be able to go out and dig a ditch," his wife said.
He received his degree from W&J in 1954, then his teaching certificate from St. Vincent College in Latrobe.
Mr. Hartman was teaching history in the Latrobe School District when he met Carole Blair, a teacher at the high school. "I was impressed. I found Wiley to be handsome, personable and well-respected in the community," she said.
"We began to date and were married in 1967. When you're married to a man like Wiley, there's never a dull moment. Even when we were on vacation, he was still contemplating a future project.
"We were on vacation in New England when Wiley was considering establishing Pier 30, a seafood restaurant that was later replaced by Sorry Charlie's. We brought back a car full of artifacts to remind our diners of the sea."
Mr. Hartman added two large rooms to the Red Rooster and renamed it Harty's, which in the 1970s was considered one of the largest entertainment and banquet complexes in the state, with banquet seating for 500.
"Wylie often remarked that his greatest accomplishment was the building of Oakley Park," his wife said. "He designed it and built it in the 1980s. It also contained my sign business, Signs in 1 Day.
"Wylie's office was always in our home. And he would involve myself and our two daughters, Kelly and Jocelyn, in all of his business decisions. In fact, Kelly, because of her father's influence, became an interior designer."
As a youth Mr. Hartman attended the Latrobe Presbyterian Church with his family and in later years, was a member of Charter Oak United Methodist Church in Greensburg.
He is survived by his wife, Carole Blair Hartman; two daughters, Kelly Keenan and her husband, Gardner, of Greensburg, and Jocelyn Petrosky and her husband, David, of St Louis; four grandchildren, Mason, Carter, Reese and Clayton Petrosky; and two brothers, Dr. H. King Hartman and Thomas B. Hartman, both of Greensburg.
The family will receive friends at 10 a.m. today in Charter Oak United Methodist Church, Greensburg. A memorial service will follow at 11 a.m. in the church with the Rev. David Eversdyke officiating. Private interment will be in Unity Cemetery, Unity Township.
The Hartman-Graziano Funeral Home Inc., Latrobe, is in charge of arrangements.
